The Lady Returns
by Lauren Wagner
Summary: Yuriko comes back
1. Default Chapter

Searing flames over her body.  
  
The sound of an eagle screeching aloud.  
  
Liquid, fire hot pouring from every orifice, ever her eyes and mouth.  
  
When it finally finished, Yuriko found herself able to move. Narrowing her eyes slowly, she thought she saw a falcon made out of fire looking down at her with regal looking eyes. With a flap of its great wings, the firebird left her lying in the tank.  
  
Slowly Yuriko sat up, finding herself underwater with some surprise. Kicking up with her feet, she swam for shore. When she broke the surface of the water, she dragged herself onto the land and coughed up a tiny bit more of adamantium, which instantly became hard and indestructible.  
  
Looking out at where Stryker's base of operations once lay, Yuriko smiled. She was herself again, not some mindless slave that constantly cracked her knuckles and attacked people on her master's signal. Looking down at her nails, she clenched her muscles and with a sleek SHLICK, metal claws came out and sparkled in the light of the sun; a clear reminder of her enslavement.  
  
As her claws retracted, she realized something.  
  
Where was she going to go now? There was no way she'd be able to go back to Japan with no money on her and she figured most people wouldn't take kindly to a foreign woman walking around barely dressed in torn leather clothes. Closing her eyes she tried to think when something suddenly came to her.  
  
"Hang in there. . . you've survived the worst of it. You'll be all right. I'm here. I'm right here."  
  
"We'll get you out of this, miss, I promise. I know someone misses you the way Amanda and I miss each other. That kind of love is the only thing that can keep you alive right now, I know."  
  
"Kurt." Yuriko smiled faintly, remembering the German's kind words to her when she had first been experimented on. Even thought she never saw her face, she guessed that he looked very different due to the furry three- fingered hand that often held hers. If he had been able to escape from Stryker, maybe he was still in America.  
  
But where in America?  
  
Standing up slowly, she brushed off snow as she tried to think of where he could possibly be. She remembered going through files and maps of various cities and buildings under Stryker's command, and she could go anywhere from those memories. Finally, she had an idea of where he may be.  
  
"The school!" she said.  
  
Of course he'd be there! Mutants who could went there for shelter all the time. Stryker often had her look at the maps of the mansion in case he wanted to send her in to attack with the squad.  
  
Facing the proper direction, Yuriko was off to Xavier's Institute for Gifted Children. 


	2. She's Here

Logan was patrolling the school grounds again. He always did it at night, ever since Stryker's attack on the school; he figured the security system wasn't as fool proof as everyone thought, and without Jean. . . Well, having Logan prowl the school grounds seemed to be the most logical choice due to his heightened senses.  
  
Sighing softly, he leaned against a tree and lit a cigar, blowing the blue smoke out slowly. He really missed Jean, and Scott was starting to get on his nerves with all of his moping around and not even taking care of his classes. Ororo had been forced to take over both Jean's classes and Scott's lately, and that was taking a great toll on her considering she had been friends with Jean for a long time as well.  
  
A faint breeze blew and he was about to start heading back to the mansion when he suddenly caught a familiar scent in that breeze. Tilting his head up a bit, he took a deep sniff and he let his claws out swiftly, turning to the west.  
  
Yuriko!  
  
How in the hell did she survive? Adamantium was indestructible, so how was she able to get rid of all that metal in her body and make it to the school. Logan wasn't sure, but he figured that she wasn't here on a friendly call either.  
  
Ready for anything, Logan headed towards her.  
  
Yuriko smiled faintly, looking at the large mansion that was slowly being restored to its former glory. It looked really nice and she figured that if Kurt was there, he must be happy with those people. She started walking towards the gates, unaware that someone was coming right for her.  
  
As soon as he saw her walking towards the mansion, Logan took action. He charged at her and she had barely seen him when she leapt backwards and performed a somersault in the air before she landed in a crouch. His claws made the air hiss as he lashed out at her, aiming to kill.  
  
Yuriko used her claws too, but it was just to deflect Logan's attacks as she tried to say anything that would make him stop. Their claws made sparks fly all around as they fought back and forth, Logan pushing Yuriko back near the trees almost too easily. Logan wasn't a fool; he figured that Yuriko was baiting him into something so he slowly started to back up.  
  
Yuriko took that moment to perform a back flip and press her back up against a tree, trying to show Logan that she didn't want to fight him anymore. Retracting her claws, she held out her hands and shook her head.  
  
Narrowing his eyes, Logan retracted his own claws on one hand but left the other ready to fight.  
  
"What are you doing here?" he asked.  
  
"Kurt?" Yuriko asked. Logan cocked an eyebrow slightly, letting his other set of claws sink back into his hand.  
  
"All right, I have no idea what your game is, but I'm going to let you into the mansion but if you try anything funny, I'll finish you off like last time all right?" he asked. Yuriko nodded faintly, placing her hands behind her back as she looked at the school. Nodding a bit, Logan led her to the school.  
  
"How the hell did you survive that anyway? I filled your body with adamantium." He said looking, looking over at her with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Yuriko said. 


	3. Kurt!

As they entered through the kitchen door, they found Bobby going through the refrigerator for a drink with Rogue. When the two saw Yuriko they looked at Logan with cocked eyebrows.  
  
"Who's this?" Bobby asked, taking out two bottles of Dr Pepper.  
  
"You know where the professor is?" Logan asked. As Logan talked with Bobby and Rogue, Yuriko slowly wandered around the kitchen looking at all of the food in the shelves and when she opened the fridge door, she gasped to see so much food inside. Stryker often starved her when he felt she wasn't performing too well on her tests.  
  
"You mean this is the woman you fought at the base?" Rogue gasped. "But how is she here?" she asked. Logan was about to answer when he and the others heard Kurt talking with Ororo.  
  
"Kurt!" Yuriko gasped, smiling as she headed for the voice.  
  
"Oh damn." Logan muttered, going after her.  
  
Kurt was in the living room with Ororo, trying to comfort her since she was starting to have a nervous breakdown due to both the death of her friend and the thrice amount of work she was given because of it.  
  
Yuriko paused for a moment, looking at Kurt with curious eyes. She figured he must be furry because of his hand, but she never got the impression that he looked simply like an elf with a spaded tail before! Laughing, she ran and leapt onto his neck, startling both him and Ororo immensely.  
  
Kurt took a moment to regain his balance and his sense from the sudden hug and he looked down at Yuriko in confusion.  
  
"Who. . ?" Suddenly he recognized her and he burst into laughter, hugging her back tightly.  
  
"Yuriko! Mein Gott you are alive!" he said. "But how?"  
  
"I will explain later." She said, letting go and backing up slowly. "I am so glad to see you, Kurt! I've always wanted to see your face and now I can. You never said you were an Elf with a tail!" Kurt laughed softly, shrugging a bit.  
  
"You never asked if I looked like an Elf." He said. He turned to Ororo and he smiled, pointing to Yuriko with his tail. "Ororo, this is my friend Yuriko. Yuriko, this is Ororo." He smiled as the two shook hands faintly, Ororo slowly starting to relax as she met Kurt's old friend.  
  
"But how did you survive?" Ororo asked, tilting her head to one side. "Logan told us about the fight he had with you." She explained.  
  
"I think we all would like the answer to that, Ororo." Turning around, they saw Xavier slowly wheeling over, his hands folded in his lap. He smiled at Yuriko and bowed his head slightly in greeting.  
  
"I think we all should go into the conference room so that Ms. Oyama can tell her story to all of this. I have a feeling that it's a very interesting one." He said, turning his chair around and heading down the hallway. 


	4. The Tiger Gets Her Claws

Everyone sat down and made themselves comfortable, ready to hear Yuriko's story. She fiddled with her fingers, fighting the urge to crack her knuckles as she thought about what she should say first. Taking a deep breath, she started.  
  
She had come from Japan after being hired as a bodyguard to the president due to her above average skill in hand to hand combat. When she got to the White House, she met some very important men, but oddly not the president.  
  
Instead of him, she met a man named William Stryker who claimed to be the head of security. When Yuriko asked when she would see the president, he brushed it away and said she needed to go through some questions first.  
  
Was she a mutant?  
  
At first, the question confused her since they didn't use the term "mutant", but when he explained what he meant, she said she was and demonstrated by cutting the palm of her hand. The wound healed a moment later and Stryker's eyes lit up hungrily.  
  
He told her that there was a way to make her a better fighter and protector for the president. He said it was a simple procedure that wouldn't hurt at all. Yuriko agreed with a smile, wanting to be able to fight better should the need arise.  
  
In the next moment, she was on the floor, blackness filling her vision.  
  
When she finally woke up, she found that she was too weak to open her eyes. Her hands felt like they were on fire, and she groaned softly in disgust at how weak she was.  
  
She felt a hand gently take hers and she flinched at the first but as the person spoke, she felt comforted. She recognized the accent as a German one, and she wished she could talk back to him somehow since her mouth felt like it was filled with cotton.  
  
When her claws first came out, she had been thinking about Stryker with extreme hatred. She gave a weak cry as something forced its way through her fingers and then she heard soldiers talking and one of them beating her new friend whom he called Creepy Kurt. She had wanted to help Kurt but she was too weak to move and fight the soldiers.  
  
When Kurt was taken away from her, Stryker started to visit and he told her about his plans with Kurt. Once, she had been able to strike him and cut him under his left eye but she was restrained and he started to use the serum on her.  
  
She remembered everything else as if she had been watching a movie. She remembered the pain and feeling of becoming full of heavy liquid. Then she saw nothing as she fell into a coma.  
  
The next thing she remembered was looking up at a falcon made out of fire that made the metal inside of her melt away. Then she swam to shore and headed for this school.  
  
Kurt sighed softly, shaking his head a bit as she finished her story.  
  
"I can still remember that cell and those soldiers too." He admitted, his tail curling lightly around his feet. Yuriko sighed softly, looking at her hands.  
  
"What I don't understand is if you really saw a fire bird or if it was just some kind of hallucination." Scott said. "I mean, it sounds a bit far fetched if you ask me."  
  
"I'm not asking you anything." Yuriko said. "I told you everything I remember seeing and doing. Besides, if that bird wasn't real, how did all that adamantium simply melt out of me?" she asked.  
  
Xavier was listening quietly, his hands under his chin in a steeple position. Clearing his throat slightly, he leaned back and turned to Yuriko.  
  
"Whatever the reason is for your sudden survival and arrival to the school; I am glad you were able to get here safely, Yuriko." He said with a smile. "I am sure you will be a welcome addition to this school. Kurt? Could you show Yuriko around please? Since you're both newcomers here, I believe it would be beneficial for you both to be able to talk alone for a bit."  
  
Smiling happily, Kurt took Yuriko by the hand and led her out of the room. 


	5. The End

"And this is Ororo's garden. She has buds from every exotic place in the world. I think he even has some plants from Japan!" Kurt said, stopping and looking up at one of the flowering cherry blossom trees with a smile. He looked over at Yuriko and he smiled a bit, his fangs glittering slightly in the light of the sun glittering through the windows above.  
  
She returned the smile slowly, before she looked around at all of the exotic flowers.  
  
"She must really love flowers to have so many in the attic of the school like this. I can tell that she takes great care of them all too." She said, lightly touching a cherry blossom. Kurt nodded, walking up beside her.  
  
"Ja, Ororo loves flowers." He agreed. He turned to Yuriko and his tail flicked excitedly. "I cannot believe you are alive!" he laughed, shaking his head a bit. "When Logan told me about the fight I. . ."  
  
"What?" Yuriko asked, looking at him quietly. Kurt looked her in the eyes and he smiled shyly.  
  
"I was scared." He admitted softly. Yuriko tilted her head to one side, a lock of ebony hair falling over her eyes.  
  
"Why were you scared?" she asked. "We only knew each other for a few days at least." She pointed out.  
  
"Ja, but for those days, you helped me as much as I helped you. I don't think I would have lasted so long if I didn't have anyone to talk to; even if they didn't talk back." He added with a soft laugh. Yuriko shook her head and laughed a bit.  
  
"You have no idea how much I wanted to talk back to you, Kurt. After I heard what Norris said about your Amanda. . ."  
  
"I remember you put your hand over mine and squeezed faintly." Kurt finished for her with a smile. Yuriko smiled and sat down on the bench, looking at Kurt quietly.  
  
"Kurt, do you like that woman Ororo?" she asked. Kurt laughed softly, crossing his arms across his chest as he thought about it for a moment.  
  
"In a way, ja I do." He admitted with a smile. "She is very kind and I think you and her will get along." He said. "Sadly, she is being treated unfairly by the others."  
  
"How so?" Yuriko asked.  
  
"A woman named Jean Grey died that day at Alkali Lake. Her boyfriend Scott cannot teach his classes and gave them to Ororo. Not only that, but she must also teach her own and Jean Grey's classes." Kurt explained with a sigh. "She is not doing very well with all of the pressure exerted on her."  
  
"I'm sorry to hear that." Yuriko said softly.  
  
"Why did you ask if I liked Ororo anyway?" Kurt asked, thinking her all ready knew the answer to that. Yuriko stood up and walked away slowly, hugging herself slightly. Kurt followed after her slowly and they went to an area of the garden that was filled with white and pink flowers.  
  
"Yuriko?" Kurt asked, his tail curling slightly. Finally she turned around and she smiled weakly, walking up to him slightly.  
  
"Kurt, I love you." She said finally. "I know that sounds strange from a woman whom you only knew barely alive in a cell for a few days who can make ugly claws come out of her fingers but. . ."  
  
Kurt interrupted her by gently taking her hands into his and looking down at them quietly. He looked from her hands to her eyes and he smiled, gently kissing the tips of her fingers.  
  
"I don't think your hands are capable of carrying anything so ugly." He said softly. "Deadly, ja. But they are also beautiful in a way." He explained with a shrug. Yuriko took one of her hands and traced one of the tattoos on his cheek, smiling a bit.  
  
"Like your tattoos in a way." She said softly. "They are carved into your skin with a knife and made with blood but in a way they are art in its purest form."  
  
The two stood in the garden, looking into each other's eyes in a way that needed no words to explain the emotions flowing between the two of them. Kurt's tail lifted lazily and wrapped around Yuriko's waist, pulling her close to him slowly as they wrapped their arms around each other, her face buried in the sparkling cloth of his circus jacket.  
  
Stryker had planned on using his serum and experiments to destroy Mutants and wipe them from the face of the Earth. All he did was make them stronger against the hatred from the Humans, and even more determined to fight for acceptance into a society that despises them.  
  
He also made two of his most recent victims come together in love.  
  
The poor bastard must be rolling in his watery chained up grave. 


End file.
